新外研版

高中英语

选择性必修

第一册 Unit 4

B

Developing ideas

课文再现

 

Watch the video

英汉对照

ART&TECHNOLOGY

艺术与科技

 

1 Think “art”. What comes to your mind? Is it Greek or Roman sculptures in the Louvre, or Chinese paintings in the Palace Museum? Or maybe, just maybe, it’s a dancing pattern of lights?

说到“艺术”，你想到了什么？是卢浮宫里希腊或罗马的雕塑？抑或是故宫博物院里中国的名画？又也许，仅仅是也许，是一片舞动的光影？

 

2 The artworks by American artist Janet Echelman look like colourful floating clouds when they are lit up at night. Visitors to one of her artworks in Vancouver could not only enjoy looking at it, they could also interact with it—literally. They did this by using their phones to change its colours and patterns. Exhibits such as these are certainly new and exciting, but are they really art?

美国艺术家珍妮特·艾克曼创作了一系列艺术品，晚上将其点亮时，它们就像七彩浮云。其中在温哥华展出的那一件，人们不仅可以欣赏，甚至可以与之互动。人们可以通过操作自己的手机改变它的颜色和图案。像这样的展览品无疑是新潮的激动人心之作，但它们真的可以算是艺术吗？

 

3 Whatever your opinion, people have been expressing their thoughts and ideas through art for thousands of years. To do this, they have used a variety of tools and technologies. Yet Michelangelo and others have been labelled as “artists” rather than “technicians”. This means that art and technology have always been seen as two very separate things.

无论你的看法如何，数千年来人们一直通过艺术表达自己的思想和理念。为此，人们使用了各种各样的工具和技术。然而，米开朗基罗等人一直被称为“艺术家”而非“技巧大师”。这就意味着艺术和科技一直被看作两个截然不同的领域。

 

4 Today, however, technological advances have led to a combination of art and technology. As a result, the art world is changing greatly. Now art is more accessible to us than ever before. Take for example one of China’s most famous paintings from the Song Dynasty, Along the River During the Qingming Festival. As this artwork is rarely on display, people have sometimes queued up to six hours for a chance to see it. Once in front of the painting, they only have limited time to spend taking in its five metres of scenes along the Bian River in Bianjing. Thanks to technology however, millions more people have been able to experience a digital version of this painting. Three-dimensional (3D) animation means that viewers can see the characters move around and interact with their surroundings. They can also watch as the different scenes change from daylight into nighttime.

然而如今，科技的进步使得艺术与科技结合。因此，艺术世界正发生着巨大的变化。现在，我们比以往任何时候都更容易接触艺术。例如，中国宋朝的传世名画之一《清明上河图》，因其极少被展出，人们有时要排队等上六个小时才有机会一睹其容。即使面对画卷，由于这幅画卷长达五米，人们也只有有限的时间来欣赏画面上汴京汴河沿岸的景色。然而，在科技的帮助下，已经有数百万人得以观摩这幅画作的数字化版本了。利用3D动画技术，观赏者可以看到画中的人物四处走动并与周围事物互动。他们甚至还可以看到从白天到夜晚画中不同场景的变化。

 

5 The art-tech combination is also changing our concepts of “art” and the “artist”. Not only can we interact with art, but also take part in its creation. With new technological tools at our fingertips, more and more people are exploring their creative sides. The result has been exciting new art forms, such as digital paintings and videos.

艺术与科技的结合同样改变着我们对“艺术”和“艺术家”这两个概念的理解。我们不仅可以与艺术作品互动，还可以参与艺术作品的创作。通过触手可及的新兴科技工具，越来越多的人开始发掘自己创新的一面，数字绘画、视频等激动人心的新型艺术形式应运而生。

 

6 However, the increase in the amount and variety of art produced has also raised questions over its overall quality. Can a video of someone slicing a tomato played in slow motion really be called “art”?

然而，艺术作品在数量和种类上的增加同时带来了整体质量上的问题。将一个人切西红柿的视频慢动作播放，真的可以被称作“艺术”吗?

 

7 Similarly, such developments are making the line between art and technology less distinct. Can someone unfamiliar with traditional artists’ tools really call themselves an “artist”? And is the artist the creator of the art itself, or the maker of the technology behind it? A recent project used technology and data in the same way that Rembrandt used his paints and brushes. The end result, printed in 3D, was a new “Rembrandt painting” created 347 years after the artist’s death. These advances are perhaps bringing us closer to a time when computers rather than humans create art.

同样，这种发展也使得艺术与科技的界限越来越模糊。那些并不熟悉传统艺术工具的人真的可以自诩为“艺术家”吗？艺术家到底是艺术本身的创造者，还是艺术背后技术的创造者？最近有一个项目用科技手段和数据还原了伦勃朗的绘画方式。最终，通过3D打印技术，在这位艺术家去世347年后，一幅全新的“伦勃朗画作”诞生了。也许，这些先进的技术正带领我们走进一个由电脑而非人类创造艺术的时代。

 

8 Where technology will take art next is anyone’s guess. But one thing is for sure—with so many artists exploring new possibilities, we can definitely expect the unexpected.

科技将会推动艺术发展至何种地步，我们不得而知。但唯一确定的是：随着众多艺术家探索全新的可能性，我们一定可以期待意外的惊喜。

 

 

　　

 

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